Late-October 1996 tornado outbreak
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| Date of tornado outbreak: | October 26, 1996 |
| Duration1: | ~12 hours |
| Maximum rated tornado2: | F2 tornado |
| Tornadoes caused: | 26 confirmed (Largest October tornado outbreak in Minnesota history) |
| Damages: | $1.4 million (1996 dollars) |
| Fatalities: | 0 |
| Areas affected: | West North Central States |
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1Time from first tornado to last tornado |
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The Late-October 1996 tornado outbreak was an unusual tornadic event that affected Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota on October 26, 1996. Twenty six tornadoes touched down on what turned out to be a record breaking late-season tornado outbreak.
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[edit] Outbreak description
The outbreak started in Nebraska as 3 tornadoes touched down from 7:23 AM - 9:00 AM. The favorable dynamics then shifted northward to South Dakota where 9 tornadoes touched down from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Finally, 14 more tornadoes touched down in Minnesota during the middle and late afternoon hours. Of the 26 tornadoes that touched down that day, five of them were rated as F2, with the rest being F0 and F1. Because these tornadoes formed from low-topped supercells, the tornadoes that formed were relatively weak.[1] There were no fatalities, 15 were injured and there was 1.4 million dollars in damage; most of which occurred in rural areas of west-central Minnesota[2]
What makes this outbreak notable is the time of year that it took place. Typically fall is a very quiet time of the year for tornadoes in the United States, and the ones that do form usually touch down in the Southern United States. In Minnesota, prior to this outbreak there had been only 10 tornadoes ever recorded during the month of October, so the 14 tornadoes on this day easily eclipsed most late season outbreak records.[3]
[edit] Tornadoes
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
| 26 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] References
- ^ 26 October 1996 Minnesota Low-Topped Supercells. National Severe Storms Lab. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
- ^ Storm Events. National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
- ^ The October 26, 1996 Minnesota Tornado Outbreak. National Weather Service (2006-10-25). Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
